Big Temp Swings

Hi everyone,Happy July 4th !I put in a small butt (7 pounder) last night about 8:00pm. My classic-style Smokette runs hot so I put the temp at approx 215 degrees. The smoker is running hot..hotter than normal..and I have seen the temp peak this morning at 257. It has been at 230-340 for most of this smoke. Do you think something is wrong with the smoker??The butt has been for 14 hours with the current temp of meat at 158. It is a nice day here..temp in low 80s with low humidity.Thanks and hope everyone enjoys the day.Jim

I'm no expert but with that type of heat I would think your meat would be done after 14 hrs. I've had three butts on for 6 hrs (6-7.5 lbs.) The two smaller ones with the probes in them are at 172*

Do you have an oven thermometer to verify the temperature reading from the Smokette? Right now I'm not believing your readout. If it peaked at 257, how could it be between 230-340? Try moving the probe to another meat location to make sure you're not in fat or something. Meat may be further along than you think. Try a meat reading with another thermometer.

Thanks Pags...sorry for the confusion.The "air" temp of the smoker is 230-240 (now reading 232) for most of the time with it spiking up occasionally into the 250s. The meat temp is slowing climbing...now at 159.I'm just wondering if the air temp part of my Maverick therm is being strange.It is not unusual for me to have almost a 20 hour smoke when I am doing just one butt.

You know. I don't really know what the temperature swings are on my Elite. I've noticed a few degrees one way or the other. I just watch the Elite's meat probe and the Maverick probe readings. Kinda surprises me in a way cause I'm normally anal about those type of things.

Just a thought. Maybe your Smokette reads higher than actual, and when you set the Smokette lower you're getting longer cook times. Verify the accuracy of the Smokette with a verified accurate oven thermometer. I've also dangled the Maverick probe inside my Elite and it read the same as the Elite oven temperature.

I have a new elite also. My first butt 8.5 lbs took 21 hours because I cooked it at 200 while I was asleep then bumped up to 225*. Just pulled my second butt at 11:30 (16.5 hrs) this morning, I started it at 1900 last night. I injected in with vinegar, water, sugar, salt, and pepper and used CS Rib Rub. It was cooked at 225*, I didn't touch anything until the meat reached 195*, then I removed meat, FTC, and added a half cup of apple juice warmed to room temperature. Now I am waiting for supper time.

I have never checked the oven probe, but once the oven reaches my temperature setting, the indication on the control panel has never varied more than two degrees from my set temperature.

Hope this helps!!!!

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Thanks for all of the replies and help. Smokin, as always, you are correct in that I am guessing that the dial is on 215 degrees. There are marks for 200 and for 225 degrees and I have the need a little bit more than halfway between those two settings.The meat temp is now 161 and the "air" temp is 241. The butt has been in for almost 16.5 hours...the meat was right out of the refrig when I put it in the smoker and turned the smoker on. I want to foil, towel, cooler the butt for a couple of hours prior to shredding so I am thinking about bumping the dial up a bit. Still okay with you Smokin and everyone else?Thanks you all

Amen Pags...we are all very lucky.Still hanging by my thumbs here...butt has been in for 20.5 hours. Air temp of smoker is 280 and meat is 179. We have to eat in 90 minutes. I think I will let it go for another 45 min and then, for the first time ever, I will take it out and finish it in the oven for the last 45 min with the heat cranked up. I can't figure out what I did wrong...

I wrapped it in some foil and put it on the upper rack of my grill at about medium. The temp got up to 400 degrees and I let it cook for 20 minutes. I turned the grill off and let it sit in the hot grill for another 20 minutes. Our guests started arriving so I had to start shredding. It had a good taste but was a little bit more dry than any of the butts I have ever done before (dozen or so). After shredding, I mixed it with about 1/4 cup of the vinegar mop. Our guests loved it saying that it beat anything they had in a restaurant...however, I knew it could have been a little bit better. Something was definitely off on this smoke. Besides taking forever to get to temp, the wood didn't turn to ash either. I had three small chunks of wood totalling about 2.5oz of wood. One chunk was ash but the other two were charred..heavily charred..but not a pile of ash.

I agree with you Smokin but I was getting kind of desperate. The one rather little butt had been in for over 21 hours and guests were coming. What is the best way to verify the accuracy of the probe? I have a wireless Maverick.In the FWIW category, I took the probes out when I was switching the butt to the grill and re-inserted it in a different (and perhaps slightly thinner) part of the meat. The temp shot up to 209. I was thinking about abandoning the grill idea but was worried that this was some undercooked portions of pork. Don't get me wrong..especially you lurkers that are out there trying to decide about buying a Cookshack...the meat was delicious and as everyone who has eaten the food out of the smoker has told me, it beats anything from local (and good) bbq restaurants. This is just part of the eternal and impossible quest to make things perfect. Cookshack smokers will do that to you...make you want perfectly smoked foods each and every time.Believe me, I could have set just set it and forget it, and it would have been absolutely perfect. The bottom line is something that Smokin always says..it's ready when it's ready.

Boil water and insert the Maverick probe. It should read 212*. Once you determine the Maverick is accurate, then compare the Maverick to your Cookshack by dangling the Maverick probe inside the smoker (make sure it's not resting on the metal grate). Both temperatures should read the same.

Seeking barbecue perfection is rewarding, educational, and just plain fun.

There's some fun videos on Youtube by a guy called Harvey (bbqtalk.ca) about barbecuing. He is a competition cook and caterer, in the vid of doing butts (he's using a Weber Smoky) he says he sets his alarms to 210 (low) and 275 (high). So it seems temperature swings are the norm.

melting ice (not ice with water added) is the low level calibration for 32 degrees F (0 degree C) and an open container of water at a rolling boil is the the high level calibration point of 212 degree F (100 degree C). These are industrial plant standards and acceptable for calibration purposes.

As an aside, I have never had a butt that went for more than 14 hours to reach the proper internal of 195 as long as the smoker temp is held between 225 and 250 and have cooked them in less than 8 hours with the use of a 'Texas' crutch (aluminum foil) after four hours of smoke. Higher temps will shorten the time for the cook. I would question a lot of things with 21 hours of cook time.

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